CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS @ MASS MoCA, 5/29/10

by Michael Eck
Special to The Times Union
The Carolina Chocolate Drops are just brilliant. Who else could make a straight-up folk festival workshop feel like a hoedown for hundreds?
The Chocolate Drops, over the past few years, have been bringing the gospel of Black American String Band Music to the masses and Saturday night the trio held forth at MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center with a concert that was joyous, raucous and educational.
The band began at the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, when Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons met each other as well as the legendary fiddler Joe Thompson. All three had been working in various aspects of old-time music when they converged at Thompson’s house, but a genuine and immediate spark made them want to make music together.
And how!
At MASS MoCA, Flemons did a soft-shoe while playing snare drum, Robinson sawed the devil’s box, Giddens blew a mean kazoo and all played banjo like nobody’s business.
They may be based in Black String Band Music, but they deeply understand that old rural musicians often blurred or just didn’t bother with color lines, so they also rolled out the Johnny Cash/June Carter nugget “Jackson,” the fiddle romp “Sourwood Mountain” and a harmonica arrangement of Eck Robertson’s take on “There’s a Brownskin Girl Down The Road Somewhere.”
As noted, the entire session had the feel of a folk festival workshop. Flemons was duded up a bit, but Giddens was dressed as if to pick her one-year-old daughter up from daycare and Robinson looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. So be it.
Each and every tune was given a brief — or not so brief — or meandering — introduction and each had a real connection to the roots of American music.
Even a stunning rendition of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style” — featuring Robinson as a human beatbox — felt connected to tradition, with the song’s protagonist recalling prototype feminists like Mississippi John Hurt’s “Frankie,” who “shot old Albert” for stepping out with Alice Fry.
Robinson also acted as a human drumset (thumping the floor with his feet) for the title track of the band’s latest album, “Genuine Negro Jig.”
In its stadium configuration, Hunter Center is not really set up for dancing, but that didn’t stop a few hardy souls from jumping up and down to “Sandy Boys,” “Cindy Gal” and “Black Annie.”
And Flemons, a disciple of Mike Seeger, did his best Pete Seeger in getting the crowd to sing and clap along. “Don’t Get Trouble In Mind” sounded like thunder when all voices joined together for a glorious whoop.
Again, in workshop style, the individual players also took solo turns. Giddens in particular wowed the crowd with a selection of Mouth Music, unaccompanied Scots-Gaelic singing that developed rhythmically as the fans tried their best to keep up with an ever-accelerating beat pattern.
She also cut a mean rug herself, jumping up to dance barefoot on “Durang’s Hornpipe” and “Sourwood Mountain.”
Carolina Chocolate Drops will return to the area in September for a performance at The Egg. Get your tickets soon, because word will spread.
As for opening act, The Duke & The King, the less said about their pretentious, hackneyed Americana the better.

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS
with The Duke & The King
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Hunter Center, MASS MoCA, 87 Marshall Street, N. Adams, Mass.
Highlights: “Don’t Get Trouble In Your Mind” featured every voice in the house.
The Crowd: A sold-out throng, few of which had ever been to a folk festival workshop but got a good dose nonetheless.
Upcoming: Carolina Chocolate Drops will appear at The Egg Sept. 12 with Guy Davis.